Far-right leader says Trump win 'good news for France'

11/09/2016

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"More generally, wild globalisation" would be tamed, and she predicted that international relations would improve, "notably with Russia".President of the French far-right party and presidential candidate for the 2017 French Presidential elections Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a press conference on november 9, 2016 in the party headquarters inNanterre, near Paris, following the victory by US Republican candidate Donald Trump in US presidential elections.Marine Le Pen said on November 9, 2016 that Donald Trump's election to the US presidency was "good news" for France in a speech. Donald Trump has stunned America and the world, riding a wave of populist resentment to defeat Hillary Clinton in the race to become the 45th president of the United States. The Republican mogul defeated his Democratic rival, plunging global markets into turmoil and casting the long-standing global political order, which hinges on Washington's leadership, into doubt.

"I dare to repeat that the election of Donald Trump is good news for our country," said Le Pen, who will be the anti-immigration National Front's candidate in France's 2017 presidential election.

Le Pen, 48, was one of the first French politicians to react to Trump's stunning victory, tweeting her congratulations to the Republican president-elect "and to the free American people".

In her brief remarks later, she said a Trump White House would assure that the sweeping Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and EU would be rejected.

Le Pen said Trump would rein in "the warlike interventions that are the source of the huge migratory waves that we are suffering".

If Trump keeps to his pledges, they will be "beneficial for France," she said.

Le Pen is widely tipped to reach the second round of the French presidential election on May 7 next year.